The present disclosure relates to a vehicle for harvesting espalier fruit, such as berries or grapes, to a vehicle for harvesting olives and to a method of harvesting and further processing the espalier fruit.
Fully automatic harvesting vehicles, for example, for harvesting grapes, are known. A construction of such vehicles is used for picking the grapes off vines which are grown in rows. The method according to the present disclosure is suitable for harvesting grapes and for further processing the grapes to produce a juice or must for making wine. In addition to harvesting grapes and processing them directly in the vehicle, the present disclosure relates to the harvesting and further processing of other fruit or plant parts grown in espaliers, such as the harvesting of currants or other fruit which can be picked by a harvesting vehicle of the present disclosure. The present disclosure is described herein with relation to the harvesting and processing of grapes, but is not limited to this application.
The further processing of a crop directly on a harvesting vehicle is known. Thus, for example, the individual grapes are detached from the grape bunches by a pick-off or picking device. The grapes are then collected in a collecting or buffer tank on the vehicle and are fed to a further processing outside the vehicle. As an alternative, it is also known to drive the whole bunches of grapes to the wine producing facility.
It is a disadvantage that, in the above-described grape harvesting process in the immediately proceeding paragraph, the leaves or other undesirable plant parts as well as the seeds and skins and/or undesirable portions of the flesh of the grapes are also removed from the vineyard and are then only later separated from the grapes. It is necessary to either dispose of the excessive solid parts, or to utilize them in a different fashion, or to return them to the vineyard by another vehicle.
With respect to the state of the art, German Patent Document DE 25 19 120 A, which describes a machine for harvesting fruit, German Patent Document DE 20 03 324 A, which discloses a vehicle for pressing grapes, and U.S. Patent Document U.S. Pat. No. 3,713,887 A, which describes the processing of grapes on a vehicle under the effect of inert gas, are also cited.
In addition, it is known from German Patent Document DE 33 43 602 A1 to arrange a screw-type press on the harvesting vehicle, which compresses the fruit under the effect of pressure and dejuices them. This construction was not found to be successful, at least because the quality of the produced juice is not sufficient.
The present disclosure addresses the above-mentioned disadvantages and non-successes.
The present disclosure relates to a vehicle for harvesting espalier fruit, such as berries or grapes, and for a further processing to a juice or must on the vehicle. The vehicle comprises a frame configured to reach over a row of plants to be harvested in an area of a u-shaped recess of the vehicle. Also included are wheels on both sides of the u-shaped recess and arranged on the frame. Further included is a picking device to separate the fruit from a remainder of the plants. A solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge is arranged directly on the vehicle, which solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge separates and clarifies a fruit mash into at least a solids phase and a liquid phase. The present disclosure also relates to a vehicle for harvesting olives and for a further processing to an oil on the harvesting vehicle. The vehicle comprises a frame configured to reach over a row of plants to be harvested in an area of a u-shaped recess of the vehicle. Also included are wheels on both sides of the u-shaped recess and arranged on the frame. Further included is at least one device for separating olives from plants. A solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge is arranged directly in the vehicle, which solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge is used to separate and clarify an olive mash into at least a solids phase and a liquid phase. The present disclosure also relates to a method of harvesting and further processing espalier fruit, such as berries or grapes, using the vehicle according to Claim 1. The method step comprises processing the fruit by separating and clarifying a mash of the fruit into at least a solids phase and a liquid phase, the separating and clarifying taking place on the vehicle.
Accordingly, a solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge, also called a decanter, is arranged in the harvesting vehicle and is used for the separation and/or clarification of a fruit mash at least into a solid phase and a liquid phase.
In contrast to a use of a screw-type press, in the solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge of the present disclosure mechanical stressing of the crop is low and no time delay occurs in the processing. This reduces possible undesirable influences of microorganisms or the influences of substances including plant parts, such as stems and leaves, and also contributes to the reduction of undesirable crop-related enzyme influences.
The vehicle of the present disclosure is suitable for harvesting grapes but can also be used for other fruit.
According to the present disclosure, the screw-type centrifuge is arranged directly on or in the vehicle, such as a self-propelled full-range harvester. If the harvester is designed as a grape harvesting vehicle, the dejuicing can take place directly in the vineyard still on the vehicle during the harvesting drive. An analogous situation applies to the disposal of the marc and the rape in the vineyard which, after being discharged from the solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge, can immediately be worked into the ground as fertilizer, for example, directly by the tires. Since the screw-type centrifuge is a continuously operating machine, the discharge also takes place continuously.
The vehicle and method according to the present disclosure are suitable for obtaining a juice and/or must, for example, when producing wines of all types, such as white wine, rose, and for producing basic champagne wine. Its use is conceivable even for red wine, possibly in connection with additional processing steps directly on the vehicle or after emptying the tank for the obtained must. A suitability for the harvesting and processing of red wine can be achieved by a combination of the method according to the present disclosure with a step of a thermal or non-thermal method for the extraction of coloring, such as electroporation.
The costs of the harvesting and the further processing are clearly lowered by the vehicle and method of the present disclosure. During the harvesting and processing of grapes, a further processing by a press and or solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge in the wine producing facility are eliminated. Thus, on the one hand, the investments of the wine producing facility can be reduced and, on the other hand, the required personnel expenditures for obtaining grape must are lowered. It is also advantageous that the transport volume of the wine producing facility is lowered and that the possibly required return transport of the rape from the wine producing facility into the vineyard is eliminated.
An optional possibility of a continuous fining and/or enzymation of the must directly on the full-range harvester, such as in a continuous process, arising as a result of the solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge is also advantageous.
Because of its method of operation, the screw-type press of German Patent Document DE 33 43 602 A1 represents no centrifuge but a classical, conical press which is based on the operating principle of pressing out compressible substances. In contrast, according to the present disclosure, the obtaining of must takes place at an acceleration in the centrifugal field from more than 1,000 g that is, 1,000 times the gravitational acceleration) to more than 2,000 g. A screw-type press ensures a continuous operation on the vehicle. In relation, for example, to DE 33 43 602, a result of the narrowing of the conical housing and the damming effect of the outlet head, the crop is compressed, so that a compressive pressure acts upon the grapes, which leads to a pressing-out of the grapes. A clarifying effect cannot be achieved by such a construction. In particular, the cooler sludge content to be achieved when processing grapes is unsatisfactory. However, a cooler sludge content of less than 1% by volume, for example, a secondary cooler sludge is achieved by a decanter on the harvesting vehicle of the present disclosure. This permits, if desired, the elimination of a removal of slime. More extensively than the screw-type press, the decanter avoids the extraction of undesirable parts because a press exercises a very compressive pressing force on all parts of the fruit, for example, also on stems and seeds. The pressing effect also occurs as well by the effect of the sieve element, which causes the occurrence of mechanical damage, and which has a disadvantageous effect on the cooler sludge content and generally on the quality of the must. The cooler sludge content is influenced mainly by the sieve design of the press, because fruit parts are pressed through the perforation of the sieve plates as a result of the pressures.
As a rule, when producing wine, a grinding of the fruit before the processing by the decanter is not required. In contrast to the screw-type press, by the solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge being directly on the vehicle, clearly better must qualities can be achieved. This makes the use of the decanter meaningful, especially since the safety aspects are better than expected and critical situations, for example, by the use of a catching device for the drum, can almost be excluded.
Since screw-type presses rotate only very slowly, they are not critical from a safety-related point of view. This is probably one reason why the use of rapidly rotating centrifuges on harvesting vehicles had so far not been considered for harvesting fruit or the like grown on espaliers. The quality of the wine is also disadvantageous. In addition, the yield of the screw-type press is less than that of a decanter, which is another advantage of the decanter because, for example, the making of fewer trips. Further, the decanter is more hygienic because it also represents a closed system. The decanter additionally reliably discharges solids, such as dust, which it had previously separated, whereas these may be led into the must by the screw-type press. Furthermore, the achievable throughput at the decanter on the vehicle is also higher.
When the existing hydraulic system of the vehicle is utilized as the driving system, a cost-effective implementation of the drive of the solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge becomes possible. In addition, an easy controllability of the drive or of the two drives of the screw as well as of the drum is permitted. Advantageously, the efficient hydraulic aggregate, which is present anyhow on grape harvesting vehicles, can be utilized here, which hydraulic aggregate, in turn, is also used for driving one or two hydraulic motors, by which the drum and the screw of the solid-bowl centrifuge are driven. Other driving concepts, such as electric motors, gas, diesel or hybrid aggregates or the like are also conceivable.
Since the solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge is a high-speed centrifuge with a high potential for rotational energy, different safety characteristics are implemented for the protection of the operating personnel and of the driver of the harvesting vehicle. First, a safety catching device is installed (see FIG. 6).
The safety catching device includes metal plates and/or holding clips consisting of struts, which form a catching cage. The catching cage surrounds the drum completely or at least partially and is fastened as a separate device inside the hood or centrifuge housing and/or is constructed as a component of the hood and of the centrifuge housing. This advantageous “emergency bearing” of the drum for the event of a failure of the drum bearing, for example, roller bearings ensures that the rotating drum cannot become detached from the vehicle. However, if the drum became detached from the bearings, it remains in the safety catching device, where it can finish rotating in a simple and secure manner without direct danger to the operating personnel.
So that the hood cannot detach from the centrifuge frame even by an effect of severe force, holding clips are mounted in a distributed manner along the circumference, that is along the partition line of the hood and the frame.
In addition, the feet and spring elements are constructed as “tear-resistant” oscillating elements, so that a detaching of the solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge from the vehicle frame is securely prevented also in the event of damage.
Furthermore, the safety catching device includes bent metal plates or flat-iron holding clips. Those plates or clips reach over the bearing housing and are arranged on the left and the right of the drum outside the hood space or housing space of the solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge and are fastened to the frame of the centrifuge.
Although experimentation took place in the past by using a centrifuge on a harvesting machine, such as a potato harvesting machine, this solution was not successful in practice because there were reservations with respect to safety. These reservations also spoke against a use on harvesting machines for espalier fruit, for example, harvesting machines for berries or grapes. Such machines are often used on slopes of considerable inclinations and theoretically may even overturn if they are subjected to extremely faulty driving.
The use of the solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge is therefore even more remarkable, especially on the complicated and particularly high grape harvesting machine. This application is made possible at least by the skillful arrangement of a lateral U-shaped recess in the base frame for reaching over a row of plants, such as vines. It is also made possible at least as a result of the safety catching device as an additional safety device. The safety catching device, even in the improbable case of an overturning of the harvesting vehicle, or in the event of a failure of the bearing, ensures a safe rotating of the drum to a standstill.
Hoods for protecting the drum and as a protection against contact are also known from stationary use. These are not designed such that, as a drum is becoming detached from its anchoring, they can hold the drum in their interior. This is a significant difference between known hoods and for example, the tube-shaped safety catching devices provided in addition to the hoods, according to the present disclosure.
The solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge of the present disclosure is arranged on the vehicle such that it can always be horizontally or vertically aligned by a tilting device alone or together with the vehicle body as a function of the inclined position of the row of vines to be harvested.
It would also be conceivable to develop the solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge as a centripetal pump machine in order to achieve a pumping effect. In this case, the centripetal pump delivers the clarified must on the liquid side of the centrifuge to the next station in a processing sequence, for example, into the must collecting tank without any additionally required pump.
The harvesting vehicle may have one or more buffer or collecting tanks which are connected directly to the input or output side of the solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge. The tanks facilitate the controllability of the process, and also a pump, for the simple and particularly rapid “speed evacuation” of the buffer or collecting tank.
It is also advantageous, according to the present disclosure, for the solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge to be arranged on the vehicle such that a horizontal alignment of the solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge is essentially or precisely ensured also on a slope, for example, an inclination smaller than 3° with respect to the horizontal. This is because the vehicle body can be swiveled with the solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge by a tilting device relative to the wheels.
As mentioned above, the present disclosure also relates to a vehicle for harvesting olives and for their further processing to oil on the harvesting vehicle. The vehicle includes a frame designed for reaching over a row of plants to be picked in the area of a u-shaped recess of the vehicle. The vehicle also includes a wheel arranged on the frame on both sides of the u-shaped recess and at least one device for separating the fruit from the plants. Further included is a screw-type centrifuge, such as a solid-bowl screw-type centrifuge, arranged directly in the harvesting vehicle. The centrifuge is used for the separation and clarification of an olive mash into at least an oil phase and a water phase. The olive oil is obtained from the olives as required, after a pretreatment, such as a coring and/or grinding or the like. The obtaining of the oil is done directly on the harvesting vehicle in a decanter from a fruit mash, for example, in a two- or three-phase process. The two-phase process is oil/water-solids and the three-phase process is oil/water/solids.
The safety catching device is designed for catching the rotating drum in the event of a disturbance or for ensuring a rotating or running of the drum to a stop inside the safety catching device without any detaching of the drum from the vehicle.
Other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following descriptions when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.